According to The Athletic, Chelsea are very keen on signing Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo but are wary of Manchester United’s interest.
The London giants attempted to sign the Ecuadorian star in January, but their £55 million bid was turned down. Brighton had no plans of selling him before the deadline, but they are open to listening to offers for him this summer.
As per The Athletic, Chelsea are still very keen on pursuing a deal for the 21-year-old, who is valued at £70 million. However, another approach could depend on how much they can recoup from offloading out-of-favour players.
The reputed outlet claim that Arsenal and Newcastle United are also monitoring the player’s developments, but Man United are perceived as the main threat, according to Chelsea.
Top-class
Caicedo was highly talked about before his move to Brighton from Independiente del Valle in February 2021. However, no one would have predicted his exponential rise in a short time.
The youngster only made his league debut for the Seagulls in April last year. In a matter of 14 months, he has developed leaps and bounds to become a top target for elite English clubs.
Chelsea recently suffered a big blow with Paris Saint-Germain beating them to Manuel Ugarte’s signature, and they will be hoping to make amends by landing Caicedo from the Seagulls.
However, as The Athletic said, the London side should fear competition from United compared to Arsenal or Newcastle.
Arsenal are currently concentrating on the purchase of Declan Rice from West Ham United while it has emerged that Newcastle United are close to signing Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella.
This has provided Chelsea with some leeway in the pursuit of Caicedo, but United could enter the race anytime soon.
United have been unsuccessful in convincing Chelsea into selling Mount to them. Caicedo is apparently their fallback option, and they could make an approach of their own for the player.
Caicedo would be a fantastic purchase for either club. He has exceptional distribution qualities and is also strong with his tackling. He can play anywhere in midfield as well as at right-back.
